Scarlet Beauty One-Shots
by nerdywriter15
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring Scarlet Beauty (WillxBelle). I know they will never be canon, but I think that they're super cute, which is why I'm playing around with them on my own. If you're a hardcore Rumbelle shipper, you probably won't like these stories. No hate, I just want to warn you so that no one gets upset reading these :)
1. A Distraction

Four weeks ago, if you were to have asked Belle French what it was that she saw in Will Scarlet, she would have shrugged and said that she couldn't put her finger on it exactly. Of course, this would have been a blatant lie. She was simply too nice, too kind, too polite to tell the truth. He was simply a distraction, a distraction from the person that Belle would have given anything to forget: Rumplestiltskin, the man who had been her True Love once upon a time.

The first two weeks after she had forced him over the town line, she cried herself to sleep every night, wondering what she could have done that would have made things turn out differently. Maybe if she had told him she loved him just a little more often, he wouldn't have felt that he needed his power so much. Maybe if she had spent just a little more time telling him how he was the only one for her, he would have given her the real dagger, instead of the fake. Maybe if she had tried just a little bit harder, he would still be here, instead of out _there_ , in a world he barely knew.

But then she thought of every time she had seen the beast behind the man, of every time she had given him a second chance. She remembered the look of anger on his face, and the feeling of being thrown upon the cold dungeon floor after her failed attempt at True Love's Kiss. She remembered, during the days when she went by Lacey instead of Belle, the look of pure unadulterated enjoyment on his face as he had beaten the Sheriff of Nottingham almost to death. Finally, she remembered finding him in the top of that clock tower, with a pirate's heart in his hand, about to crush it for no other reason than to gain more power. She remembered all of these things, and reminded herself that she had been right when she'd decided that she'd had enough. The pain was still there, but she was better off without him.

~/~

Four weeks ago, if you were to have asked Will Scarlet what it was that he saw in Belle French, he would have grinned, taken a swig from his flask, and changed the subject. Will Scarlet was no liar, but he didn't want to tell anyone the truth about his feelings towards Belle. She was simply a distraction, a distraction from the person that Will would have given anything to forget: Anastasia, the woman who had been his True Love once upon a time.

After he left Wonderland, for good this time, he drank himself to sleep every night, wondering what he could have done that would have made things turn out differently. Maybe if he had told her he loved her just a little bit more often, she wouldn't have felt that she needed her power so much. Maybe if he had spent just a little more time telling her how she was the only one for him, she wouldn't have started practicing magic again. Maybe if he had tried just a little bit harder, he would still be wrapped in her arms every night instead of sleeping alone in a foreign realm.

But then he thought of every time that he had seen the monster behind his beautiful Anastasia, every time he had come face-to-face with the Red Queen. He remembered his feeling of utter dejection when she had walked out onto the balcony of the palace, arm-in-arm with the king. He remembered how, after they had shared True Love's Kiss, when he thought it was all over, when he thought that he had his Ana back for good, she had begun practicing magic again. Finally, he remembers being on his knees, begging her to come back to him, tears sliding down his face as he looked into the eyes of the person who once was his Anastasia, but who was now once again the Red Queen. He remembered all of these things, and reminded himself that he had been right when he'd decided that he'd had enough. The pain was still there, but he was better off without her.

~/~

Will asked Belle out meaning for her to be a distraction. He saw her at Granny's almost every day, eating a hamburger and drinking what looked like an iced tea. He had thought she was pretty, and that going on a date with her would be a great way to forget Ana for a couple of hours.

Belle agreed to go out with Will meaning for him to be a distraction. She often saw him sitting at the bar at Granny's, sometimes accompanied by Little John, always accompanied by some kind of alcohol. She had to admit that he was handsome, and so when he asked if she would like to get dinner with him that night, she saw it as a great way to forget Rumple for a couple of hours.

But as they sat and talked that night, they each realized that the person sitting across from them was suffering from a broken heart, a heart that had been broken in the exact same way as their own, and each of them found a little bit of comfort in being able to talk to someone who could relate to the kind of heartbreak that they had suffered. But they didn't spend the whole time talking about lost loves and lost chances. They reminisced about the Enchanted Forest, and talked about how they missed their home. They talked about how strange the Land Without Magic was, and how – with its televisions and smartphones, and internet – it sometimes seemed magical all the same. They smiled and laughed for the first time in weeks.

When, at the end of the evening, he pecked her on the cheek and told her he hoped that she had a good night, he genuinely meant it. When she told him that she hoped he did too, she was telling the truth. As they parted ways outside the diner, they both felt a little bit lighter, the burdens of their past loves not weighing them down quite so much.

Now, as she turns around to face him, she sees an honest man, a man who will never lie to her. When his eyes meet hers, he sees a good, kind woman, a woman who will never choose power over him. As they lean in for a kiss, they both realize that they may have found the person who will mend their broken heart. They both realize that the person kissing them now was always meant to be so much more than a simple distraction.


	2. Her Happy Ending

The morning after her first date with Will, she is awakened by the harsh beeping of the alarm clock on her bedside table. After turning it off, she wanders about the apartment getting ready for her day. She wears a bright smile as she washes her face and combs her hair, and hums a cheerful tune as she gets dressed. Her date with Will went better than she ever thought it would, and she feels better than she has in weeks. Her good mood lasts until she walks into her small kitchen and looks at the calendar hanging on the wall. Studying it, she realizes it's been five weeks: five weeks to the day since she banished her ex-husband across the town line.

She sighs and runs her hand through her hair exasperatedly. She has tried so hard to forget him. She moved out of the house they shared, and into the only apartment building in town that he did not own. She locked the chipped cup away in the safe in his shop, and hasn't been back since. She hid the Dagger, and vowed to herself that she would never go looking for it again.

And yet, even when he is hundreds - possibly even thousands - of miles away from her, his ghost is still here. One part of her is screaming at the other, frustrated by her inability to let him go. _Just get over him already!_ _He never treated you like he should have! He is not worth your thoughts or your time! Have some respect for yourself and forget about him!_ As much as she would like to, a person does not get over a relationship of that depth in only a few weeks.

These thoughts continue to swirl around her brain as she opens the door and steps out into the hallway. In her agitated state, she nearly steps on the object that has been left right outside the door. But she catches herself at the last second, and just barely avoids stepping on the long-stemmed rose lying on the floor.

She bends down to pick it up, and notices a small piece of paper attached to it. Intrigued, she unfolds it and begins to read:

 _Belle,_

 _Had a great time with you last night. Hopefully we can do it again sometime, if you'll have me of course._

 _Will_

Smiling to herself, she feels as though a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders as she comes to a realization that she has been unable to reach during these last few weeks.

Right now she is not completely okay. Her heart has been broken, and it will take some time to heal. But it will heal. And she will be okay. Better than okay. She will find her happy ending.

A happy ending that will include all of the friends, both old and new, who have been there for her these past few weeks. A happy ending that will include her lunches with Ruby at Granny's every Friday. A happy ending that will include Leroy, who comes into the library every week to check out one book or another. A happy ending that - surprisingly - will include Killian Jones, who has been nothing but kind towards her since they began working together as research partners.

She will find her happy ending. A happy that will most certainly include her beloved books, and perhaps a certain dark-haired thief who left her a rose this morning.


End file.
